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The Fey Courts
One of the five major powers affecting the Bridge the Fey Courts claim to represent the plane of the Fey and all those of a fey heritage. During the Foundling War the Fey fought amongst themselves for control of the Bridge before uniting to take on the other forces encroaching on their claimed territory. The Courts There are innumerable smaller 'courts' of the Fey but the two major examples are that of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. A Fey Court is a small to medium sized grouping of powerful fey and their subservient groups, ruled over by one exarch level being and their chosen partner/s. Courts formed in the Feywild due to the transient nature of its civilisations. With no cities for a monarch to rule from and a land so temperamental that it can shift shapes from day to day the people found it easier to live in smaller groups of travelling folk lead by beings strong enough to defend them from the strangeness. The Seelie Court (also known as the Summer Court in other lands) is arguably the most famous court of all. Lead by Queen Tatiana and her husband Oberon the court is one of intensity and pride, accepting into its fold only those of pure blood and pure talent. The Seelie Court tends to remain solely in the Fey planes but the legends of their exploits and artistic prowess are boasted about even around the campfires of the 'mortal' planes. The Unseelie Court strike a contrast with the Seelie as champions of the non-pure. Among the Court can be found examples of fey cross breeds of all the known civilised races and even some entirely non-fey sorts. The Unseelie are found to spend time equally between the 'mortal' planes and the Feywild but are spoke of in less dreamy terms than the Seelie as their chaotic exploits sometimes can rile the locals up in the wrong way. The Queen of Air and Darkness rules the Unseelie with a quiet but brooding grace. Other smaller Courts include; * The Byroad Court. A small, incredibly mobile court that pops up all over the place. Ruled by Lord Crossroad and filled with chaotically aligned tricksters. * The Iron Court. Likely the most static of Courts. The Iron Court is full of expert craftsmen and blacksmiths and is ruled by an exarch level satyr by the name of Ash Crown. The Foundling War At the dawn of the epoch and the Foundling War the Fey were the most divided power of the five major players with the Courts already in a state of cold war with each other. Whilst other planes were making moves to claim the Bridge as their own the Fey were too busy squabbling amongst themselves to actively mobilise, it is because of this that when they finally united and entered the war they were at a disadvantage. This disadvantage though did not stop them and as experts in underhand tactics the Fey quickly gained ground on the other factions. Their relative inexperience in field battle eventually caught up with them though when they sustained heavy losses in the final battle in the Foundling War, Sundering Prism, thought most of these casualties where from the melee before the betrayal of the dragons. After the war the Courts fled back to their plane and were not seen in the 'mortal' realms for centuries before returning in a dramatic fashion with the Festival of Painted Leaves. Contemporary Accounts Reports into the various powers interest in reigniting the Foundling War to claim the Bridge over the years have highlighted the Fey's relative disinterest in any military coup. It is generally accepted that this is solely down to the Courts uninterrupted access to the Bridge during their travels, where they reap the benefits of their legends without having to maintain the delicate balance of the place.